Death Toll Rises To 34 In Lagos Collapse Building, As Police Arrests Contractor

The final death toll in the collapsed building in Lekki area of Lagos State has been put at 34.Most of the victims were said to be foreigners.As earlier reported, the bulk of the workers on the site were brought in from Benin Republic and Togo. Giving the details of the operation that involved the National Emergency Management Agency, the Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency was LASEMA boss, Michael Akindele, who said 95 percent of the victims were foreigners.

Akindele said the greatest challenge was in calming their relatives down on Tuesday.

He said: “As we speak now, the time is 7:20pm.

“Search and rescue exercise on the collapsed five-storey building of 12 blocks of flats is hereby concluded and the physical record we have is 13 lives rescued and 34 dead bodies.

“We had full complement of all responders on board to ensure smooth response and recovery.

“It is a sad story, but notwithstanding, our job as responders is to ensure that we mitigate such that all necessary actions and sanctions shall be taken by the state government.

“The greatest challenge we had was on Tuesday and it was because the families of the deceased and those rescued, 95 per cent of them, are aliens.

“We have people from the North and East, but majorly, those that we saw in this complex were not Nigerians.“Some are Togolese and others Beninnois.“Hence, the understanding and the emotions carried over, as if they can do better, which they will not do.“The state government will address the public on the situation of the foreign victims.“Today, we had a very smooth operation.

“I must commend the Nigeria Police, RRS, Civil Defence, Red Cross, NEMA, LASAMBUS and all others for a diligent job.”In his remark, the Coordinator of NEMA in the South West, Yakubu Sulaimon, said rescuers were initially denied access on Tuesday morning, but security operatives brought the situation under control.Sulaimon said: “We do not have a list of occupants in the building.

“The state government will take appropriate action on the other buildings marked.”

Meanwhile, the Police in Lagos State have arrested the contractor handling the collapsed five storey building.

The Lagos State Police spokesperson, SP Oladapo Badmus, who made the disclosure to the News agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos, did not disclose where he was arrested.

Badmus gave his name as Odofin Taiwo, adding that he was currently under investigation